Former President Donald Trump has once again raised celebrity ire after a post-indictment fundraising video’s use of an actor’s monologue prompted a disavowal from the studio.
Late Friday after the 37-count federal indictment over the president’s possession of documents marked classified was unsealed, Trump shared a stirring video to his Truth Social account. Played over the montage of images portraying the 2024 candidate’s patriotism was a snippet from Matt Damon’s performance in the recent movie “Air.”
“But you know what? Once they build you as high as they possibly can, they’re gonna tear you back down. It’s the most predictable pattern,” Damon could be heard in the film about Michael Jordan’s iconic Nike footwear. “We build you into something that doesn’t exist and that means you have to try to be that thing; all day, every day.”
Following the post, Axios reporter Alex Thompson made the Ben Affleck and Damon founded and co-owned studio behind “Air,” Artists Equity, aware of the monologue prompting a statement complaining of “US copyright and intellectual property law” consent violations.
“We had no foreknowledge of, did not consent to and do not endorse or approve any footage or audio from Air being repurposed by the Trump campaign as a political advertisement or for any other use. Specifically in terms of any and all rights available to us under US copyright and intellectual property law, we hereby, expressly give notice that in the case of any use of material from Air by the Trump campaign where approval or consent is required, we do not grant such consent,” the studio asserted.
Specifically in terms of any & all rights available to us under US copyright and intellectual property law, we hereby, expressly give notice that in the case of any use of material from Air by the Trump campaign where approval or consent is required, we do not grant such consent.
— Artists Equity (@artists_equity) June 10, 2023
The video, where Damon could later be heard saying, “I’m gonna tell you the truth. You’re gonna be attacked, betrayed, exposed and humiliated. And you’ll survive that. A lot of people can climb that mountain. It’s the way down that breaks them, cause that’s the moment when you are truly alone,” was not the first time that Trump or his campaign had earned disfavor from public figures over materials associated with them.
Last month, after seen dancing poolside at Mar-a-Lago as a cover band performed the Village People’s “Macho Man” in the same style costumes as the group, Trump was sent a cease and desist letter from lead singer Victor Willis’ wife demanding the president no longer cause “public confusion.”
It read in part, “we have been inundated with social media posts about the imitation performance where many fans, and the general public as well, mistakenly believe to be that of the actual Village People in violation of the Lanham Act. Therefore, the performance has, and continues to cause, public confusion as to why Village People would engage in such a performance. We did not.”
Similarly, Journey took umbrage with keyboardist and guitarist Jonathan Cain had performed “Don’t Stop Believin” in support of Trump despite objections from bandmate Neal Schon.
Thompson reached out to the Trump campaign alerting them to the statement from Artists Equity and said he received an emoji in response.
I sent Artist Equity’s statement to a Trump campaign spokesperson.
This was their response: pic.twitter.com/22cYQ5rwRH— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) June 10, 2023
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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